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Just after 2:30 p.m., she announced that she had met with the lieutenant governor and he accepted her recommendation to dissolve the legislature. She said the Ontario legislature would shut down later in the afternoon and the election would be held on Thursday, June 12.

The move came after Ms. Wynne’s minority Liberal government tabled a budget on Thursday and NDP leader Andrea Horwath announced she would not support it earlier today. The Conservatives had already said they would not support the budget.

Ms. Wynne used the announcement of the election as an opportunity to pitch her party’s platform and said voters have to make a choice.

“They’ll have a choice between safe hands and risky tactics,” she said, before remarking that she had a strong team and the province was steadily recovering from the global recession.

“We cannot put that at risk, we need to move forward with a steady, balanced approach, we can’t veer to the left or right.”

In Durham Region, only the Progressive Conservatives are election ready with candidates nominated in every riding. Incumbents for the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives are slated to run again, save for Durham MPP John O’Toole who has announced his retirement.

A solid election date means the other parties will have to fill out their rosters in the coming weeks.